


if this was a cold war (could we keep each other warm?)

by vulpines



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, Ben Solo Lives, Canonical Character Death, F/M, Getting Back Together, Huddling For Warmth, Idiots in Love, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Inappropriate Use of the Force, Inspired by Hallmark Christmas Movies, No Pregnancy, Past Leia Organa/Han Solo, Safe to Read if Triggered by Pregnancy, Train Sex, in which Chewie and the gang just want Rey & Ben to get their shit together
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-12
Updated: 2020-12-12
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:21:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,076
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28016898
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vulpines/pseuds/vulpines
Summary: Five days before Life Day, a newly acknowledged Ben Solo finds himself boarding a train from Kachirho to Rwookrrorro on the planet Kashyyyk, with the intent to fully accept the death of his parents and finally ready to truly face the only remaining member of his makeshift family.Only Ben should've realized the rest of his Uncle Chewie's ragtag crew of ex-Resistance members would be invited as well - including the love of his life who left him to recover in exile after defeating the darkness together on Exegol. But Rey's got reasons of her own as to why she shut her side of their bond...reasons that are harder to remember when she sees Ben once more.
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 19
Kudos: 28
Collections: Reylo Christmas Hallmark AU Collection





	if this was a cold war (could we keep each other warm?)

**Author's Note:**

> HELLO EVERYONE! Hope you've been enjoying the rest of the Hallmark Collection as this (frankly bonkers & harsh) year comes to a close. 
> 
> Christmas has sort of lost it's charm as I've grown older, and I've actually never seen many Hallmark holiday films (maybe just 1?). That said, this challenge really excited me and as I started searching for a film that might make a good Reylo AU, I came across The Christmas Train (2017). It seemed a bit different than a lot of the other films and I thought it would lend itself well to a canonverse take. 
> 
> I'm planning on this being 4 chapters, to be released within a few days of each other; this one is a shorter prologue, but the others will be longer!

_Theed Royal Library, Naboo; 37 ABY_

“I should have known you’d be here! Buried away in research as always…” a bright voice tinged with fond exasperation jolts Ben Organa Solo out of his haze, nearly spilling the bottle of ink next to his elbow before it seems to catch itself. 

He glances up, making sure to move the now-priceless collection of Old Alderaanian poetry back into its durasteel casing for safe-keeping before giving the shorter, middle-aged woman his full attention. Next to each other, nobody would say that the two were related - but Ben remembers meeting Lakshmi Naberrie for the first time soon after being allowed to settle on Naboo and finding a certain heart-wrenching comfort in the rich dark depths of her eyes, so like his own. 

Lakshmi had welcomed him then, almost two years ago now, more formally; not quite sure what to make of the man who once terrorized the galaxy as Kylo Ren. 

They had never really known each other as second-cousins growing up; even though both their mothers were heavily involved in politics, Ben knows his own had never made an effort to truly get to know her biological relatives. His early years consisted of listening to stories of the shades of Alderaan - only to live on in memory and with the twinkle of its lingering stars in the sky.

It wasn’t all Leia’s fault though - Ben had also thrown himself into his studies, desperate to quiet the voices in his head while being sent off to learn the Jedi path with his uncle. And by the time the darker truth about his family’s ancestry was revealed across the galaxy, Ben had no thoughts of the Queen-turned-Senator who had tragically been his biological grandmother; instead, Vader became the ever present shadow haunting his mind.

But after she looked him up and down - this tall, pale man who she might have grown up alongside of, in another life - Lakshmi’s offer of tea morphed into weekly dinner invites followed by a sanctioned opportunity as an official transcriber below her at the Royal Library.

Ben doesn’t know how else he would have occupied his monitored time on Naboo, given everything that occurred to get him there, but spending his days transcribing ancient tomes in peace and solitude is the best form of meditation he can expect. 

“Credit for your thoughts, old man? I thought we had dinner plans,” Lakshmi quips, leaning against the table across from the one he sits at. 

“Sorry, ‘Shmi - just lost track of time.” Ben clears his throat, a little unused to speech since spending most of the day in the depths of the library. “And ‘old man’? You’re the one approaching 40!” He grumbles half-heartedly. 

“Well you know what they say, cousin...age is just a number, babe!” She grins sharply, before continuing, “Anyways, knowing you, I’m not joking when I say that whatever you’re reading must be fascinating. What is it this time...treatises from the High Republic era?”

Ben feels his ears flush slightly, answering a bit more hesitantly. “Actually...it’s Alderaanian poetry. Figure’d there’s not much of us left out there, might as well try to keep some of it alive.”

Lakshmi’s grin softens into something more genuine. “That’s lovely, Ben, really. And smart - I know the Council’s already debating about how much funding we’ll get for the next year…” she shakes her head in frustration, “Some people don’t see the point in keeping a place full of paper so well fed when it does make sense to have more of these uploaded. But it’s our history!!”

Ben lets his cousin rant a bit - he agrees, to an extent, but there’s nothing he can do to sway any decision the Council might make. After his extended history of crimes, he’d not risk the wrath of any government by attempting to get involved, even for something as non-political as a library.

“Anyways…” Lakshmi continues, getting to the point, “you left this in your office and you’ve gotten a few missed calls.” She slips a small holopad out of her bag and places it on the table in front of him.

The screen unlocks at the touch of his thumbprint, and Ben’s heart starts to race at the number of notifications stemming from two very specific contacts. It’s rare that Chewbacca reaches out - some mistakes run too deep for any sort of repair. But each year since Exegol, without fail around this time, the Wookiee reaches out with the same invitation:

_We would be most honored if you would join us in Rwookrrorro for this year’s most blessed Life Day celebrations, blood of my bonded._

And above that, another two newer messages from Bespin:

_Where’s that old Skywalker-Organa-Solo gumption?!?_

_It’s been two years, Ben. Come home._

Ben lets his head fall into his palms, closing his eyes and breathing deeply. Kashyyyk isn’t a Core planet - he’s been allowed to visit freely since being extended Mid-Rim freedoms on what the Commonwealth has deemed “good behavior”. But...ever since Exegol, his sentencing, and _her_...it’s just easier - safer - staying on Naboo and sinking himself into a solitary existence of transcriptions. 

Lakshmi lets her hand come up to brush his shoulder, comforting & grounding in a way that - if he closes his eyes - almost reminds him of his mother so long “I think you should go, Ben. I know it’s hard, and I love the library just as much as you do, if not more. But this - _we_ \- cannot be the only thing you’re holding onto. You have people who love you there, are ready to see you…I’m no expert, but I think it’s time. Don’t you?”

 _Reach out_ , the Force seems to whisper suspiciously like the voice of his Uncle Luke. 

(Another voice, the sweeter one who visits him only in his dreams, croons: _Be with me._ )

Ben sighs. “I’ll think about it, Lakshmi.” At her pursed lips, he amends: “Really, this time. Now how about that dinner?”

Thirty-five standard hours later, Ben finds two sets of return tickets in his holo-mail. One set for a hyperspeed journey between Theed and Kashyyyk’s own capitol; the other, first class tickets for a six-day total round trip to Chewbacca’s hometown. 

The attached message reads: _Figured the son of Han Solo might find an old fashioned train-ride through the Wookiee forests something of an adventure!_

Ben groans, for once uncaring of interrupting the library’s usual silence. 

“I’ve got a bad feeling about this…” 

**Author's Note:**

> hope you enjoyed this bit of set-up!
> 
> Chapter 2 will dive into Rey's POV as our gang reunites, with Chapter 3 being a series of flashback vignettes as to how our dyad got here and Chapter 4 our conclusion focusing on Ben's POV a bit more.


End file.
